This invention relates to the modification of cellulose through condensation with organotin compounds to yield products having enhanced thermal, solvent, and biological properties.
Cellulose is a naturally occurring polymeric carbohydrate making up about one third of all vegetable matter. Cotton is a relatively pure natural cellulose containing only about 3-15% noncellulosic material. Cotton has long been a commercially important source of fibers for textiles and the like.
Because of its importance, many attempts to modify and improve upon the properties of cotton fibers and textiles have been made. For example, the many commercially available types of rayon are the result of modification to the structure of cellulose to improve its properties. Other examples of cotton modification include U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,607 which teaches reacting an alkyl metalate of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, thorium, aluminum, iron, or antimony with cellulosic materials to yield products having improved mildew, abrasion, and flame resistance.
Organic tin-containing compounds are also known to possess biocidal activity (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,877) and it has been suggested to add such tin compounds to cellulosic materials to combat mildew and other fungal growths (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,795). However, it would be much more desirable to be able to incorporate such tin-containing compounds permanently and intimately into the structure of cellulosic materials. To our knowledge, no tin or tin-containing compounds have previously been intimately incorporated into the structure of cellulose.
Accordingly, the need exists in the art for a process to incorporate tin into the structure of cellulose and for a tin-containing cellulose having enhanced thermal, solvent, and biological properties.